


The Difference Between Love and Manipulation

by EmberandShadow



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst?, Day One, M/M, Murder Husbands, Unresolved Feelings, au where oswald doesn't freeze ed at the docks, nygmobblepot week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 06:27:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12126516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberandShadow/pseuds/EmberandShadow
Summary: Nygmobblepot Week: Day One- Murder Husbands"Sorry I can't be dead inside, like you.""You think I'm dead inside?"





	The Difference Between Love and Manipulation

Oswald walks into the room in a huff, making Ed look up from his newspaper.

“Bad day?” Ed asks, his tone less concern and more sarcasm.

Oswald glares at him, “Yes actually, but I would really rather not talk about it.”

Ed’s smirk dies on his lips and he stands. “Well then, let’s go for a ride. I have some plans tonight that may help you work through your anger.”

Ed grabs his coat and starts heading for the door, stopping a couple inches after passing Oswald when said man doesn’t move an inch.

“Aren’t you coming?” Ed asks.

Oswald doesn’t turn around, doesn’t look at him, but he still answers, “I don’t know if I should.”

Ed sighs, reaches out and then hesitates halfway through before he decides exactly how he’s going to convince the Penguin to come with him. He lets his hand rest softly on Oswald’s shoulder, feels the man tense under his touch, and then he gently turns Oswald toward him.

“What? Are you still scared that I’m going to lead you into a trap one of these days?” Ed looks him deep in the eye with a lazy smile.

Oswald stares at him with a cold look, not letting the man get under his skin. “Would it really be so crazy for me to be at least a little bit wary of you?”

Ed tilts his head, considers it, and then steps a millimeter closer and straightens Oswald’s tie. Oswald breathes in the scent of Ed, tries to keep his eyes open, tries not to lean in closer to his touch. He somehow manages to keep his demeanor solid, his face blank, as he stares into Ed’s eyes.

“Just come with me, Ozzie. I promise it’ll be fun.” And then Ed moves away from him, starts walking out the door.

Oswald hesitates for only a moment before following, and he hates how Ed has so much control over him. He hates that some part of him is still hopelessly in love with the man. Or maybe it’s not just  _a_ part of him; maybe his entire being is still in love with Edward Nygma and he’s just focusing on the one small part that isn’t and trying to make it bigger.

He follows Ed out the door and then gets into his car.

 

It’s dark by the time they get to where they’re going. Ed pulls up to an empty warehouse by the docks and Oswald notices the two cars waiting for them. For a moment he gets nervous, he starts thinking of his options, starts planning ways to get out of this situation if things go south. But Ed gives him a smile that’s probably meant to be reassuring, hands Oswald a gun and a knife, and then gets out of the car.

Oswald takes a moment in the car, contemplating what he’ll do. He watches Ed walk inside and he wonders if he should follow him. It could be a trap. But he and Ed were trying to work through their past wrongdoings, and shouldn’t that mean he start having a little trust in the man? Oswald shakes his head, decides to see how things play out, reminds himself to always have a backup plan, and then he gets out of the car.

He pockets the knife and tucks the gun behind his waistband and then heads inside.

When he gets inside he is met with raised voices, apparently hearing the end of an argument. Oswald doesn’t think he was waiting in the car for very long, so either Ed is just really good at pissing people off or he took longer in the car than he thought. Oswald is inclined toward the former.

Oswald walks up to the arguing men, straightening out his jacket as he does so, and when he arrives at Ed’s side he clears his throat. Everyone stops talking and turns toward him.

“So you brought your boy toy to talk with us?” One of the men in the group says. It’s a man Oswald has never seen before, and he tilts his head at the man’s words.

Oswald opens his mouth to respond but the man speaks up again, “Don’t say anything. We all know Nygma’s the brains behind your whole operation. You’re just the pretty mouth piece.”

Oswald looks down, offended, thinking about the gun and knife he has on him and which one would be better to use to kill this man. Instead he just inclines his head toward the man beside him.

“Ed, would you mind filling me in on what’s going on here?” He asks quietly.

Ed looks down at him apologetically and shrugs. Then he turns his attention back to the two men opposite them.

“Now.” He starts, clapping his hands together, “I’m  _sure_ we can reach an agreement, gentlemen.”

“We’re not paying you a cent, Nygma.” The man says firmly.

Ed’s lips form a thin line and then he says, “This could be mutually beneficial.”

“I don’t think so.” The man says, “Anything that you could offer us is bound to have some sort of twist.”

Oswald narrows his eyes. Even though he isn’t sure what’s happening here, he does know that this guy is smart. And sure, he’s lost his grip on the city during his absence, but he’d never seen this man before and surely he’s not all that powerful. But Ed had been running things with Barbara for a while- and even though she’d have taken control of everything Ed still would have been there, behind the scenes, keeping track of what was going on. So Oswald let’s Ed take control of the situation, continue his negotiation. And he tries to understand what’s happening.

“Honestly,” Ed rolls his eyes, “You’re at the bottom of the ladder, you do realize that? Any agreement we make tonight is  _guaranteed_ to help you climb up a rung.”

“Such a way with words. But I’m still going to have to decline your offer.” The man says with an air of finality. And then he turns and starts walking away, his partner following him.

Oswald steps forward, “Excuse me.”

The man turns back with raised eyebrows and waits for Oswald to speak.

Oswald walks up to him in that way of his that clearly expresses that he means business, that he’s a threat, and he says, “I would not walk away if I were you. This is business, and we’re not done discussing this matter.”

The man looks past Oswald up at Ed, “I’d find a better whore, if I were you, Nygma. This one’s a bit mouthy.”

The man next to him smirks, and then in a flash there’s a gun shot and the man standing in front of Oswald buckles over to clutch his wounded knee. Oswald stares him down when he straightens back up, breathing heavily.

“You want to call me that again?” Oswald asks, hand reaching into his pocket for the knife.

The man in front of him fixes him with a steely gaze, not backing down, and Oswald thinks it brave because this man is obviously going to die tonight and he doesn’t want to go down in fear.

Oswald can respect that.

“Whore.” The man growls at him.

Oswald smiles. And then he lashes out and slices the man’s neck. It’s been so long since Oswald’s killed, and he finds that he missed the bloodshed. So he loses himself in the act, starts releasing all his pent up emotions through the act of killing this man, and he continues to stab the man down to the floor far too many times than necessary. Eventually, when he’s covered with blood, he stops, breathing heavily.

The man’s partner- who had been watching in shocked horror all this time- now finally gets the common sense to run. But Oswald pulls out the gun from his waist band and shoots him in the foot before he can get too far, causing him to fall over in pain.

Ed walks over to Oswald, holds out his hand, and helps him up. Once standing, Ed’s hand lingers in Oswald’s a bit longer than he probably should, and then he moves the hair away from Oswald’s face and Oswald is left staring into those deep brown eyes and his heart is-

No.

Oswald closes his eyes and steps back, distances himself from Ed and his hands, and he only opens his eyes again when Ed chuckles.

“What?” He growls.

“Nothing,” Ed shakes his head, “It’s just… amazing how much you still love me.”

“Shut up.”

“No. I tried to  _kill_ you. You’d think that someone like you would take that a bit personally.” Ed points out.

Oswald sighs. “You said it yourself, Ed, I’m ruled by my emotions. Sorry I can’t be dead inside, like you.”

He starts to walk away then, heading toward the wounded man to finish the job, but Ed puts a hand on his arm to stop him, and Oswald turns to him.

“You think I’m dead inside?” Ed asks, the implication striking a cord in him for some reason.

Oswald pulls his arm from Ed’s grasp. “I didn’t used to. For a while there… for a while there I thought you loved me back. But I was wrong. Now it’s time to move on.”

Ed can’t help but laugh lightly at that, “You actually thought I loved you?”

Oswald glares at him. “Is that really so hard to believe? Is it hard for you to comprehend that, after everything I’ve been through, the one person who stood by me and showed me affection was the person I’d fall for?”

“Oswald.” Ed starts, reaching out to touch him, to put a hand on his shoulder or to wipe the dust from his suit- something normal, something he would have done if things were the same between them. Some normal act of affection Ed would show him if things weren’t so drastically  _different_ between them now, if they weren’t so  _far_ from getting back to anything resembling  _normal_.

“Don’t touch me.” Oswald growls.

Ed is taken aback, his eyes confused, hurt. He’s like a dog that bit his owner but now he just wants to cuddle up and doesn’t understand when he’s told  _no._  Ed himself doesn’t really understand why he’s feeling like this. It’s not like he’s in love with Oswald.

Right?

No, of course not. He shakes himself. That would be absurd. He may use Oswald’s love for him as blackmail from time to time to get him to do what he wants, but it’s not like he actually enjoys flirting with Oswald. It’s not as if he finds him lingering around the man because he has deeper feelings for him. It’s just manipulation. Or at least that’s what he tells himself.

The silence lingers between them. In which time the grunts of the other man split through the blanket of quiet, a reminder that they’re not alone. The man is still trying to get away, crawling as fast as he can even though he’s in pain and bleeding profusely.

Oswald sighs and heads toward him. “You didn’t have to shoot him, you know. Seems like you ruined a good business deal.”

Ed walks up next to him, picks the man up and holds his arms behind his back, holds him still for Oswald.

“He called you whore.” Ed reasons, “I couldn’t let anyone get away with that, good business deal or not. And besides, I came here with the intention of killing them anyway.”

Oswald pauses the conversation for a moment to slit the mans throat, watching as the life slips out of his eyes. Ed seems to enjoy watching the death too. He drops the body when the man is finally dead.

“Do you really care that much about me?” Oswald asks, picking up the conversation again.

Ed hesitates for a moment. “I- I think I care about you more than I should. More than I think.”

The confession makes Oswald pause. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Ed steps forward, places himself into Oswald’s space again. “It means… I would really like to kiss you right now. But I don’t know if you’d let me or if I should or if it would mean anything.”

Oswald gulps, looking into Ed’s dark brown eyes, wondering if this is just a manipulation or if Ed is telling the truth.

“I wouldn’t stop you.” Oswald admits, looking away, “If you wanted to kiss me- even if it didn’t mean anything for you, even if you regretted it, even if you found you could never feel for me that way- I would let you do it.”

Ed’s heart hammers. But eventually he decides he can think about what this means for him- for  _them_ \- later. Right now, after watching Oswald kill, seeing him covered in blood… it’s unexplainable but it makes Ed want to kiss him, to pull him close, to feel him. And with Oswald saying that he would allow it, the thought becomes even more tempting.

So he does.

He lightly turns Oswald’s head back to his and looks into his eyes, hesitant for a moment. Then he leans in slowly, giving Oswald every chance to pull away. But he doesn’t. And then their lips touch. And then Ed is closing his eyes and leaning into the kiss and his hands are at Oswald’s hips, pulling him closer. Oswald is surprised at first, he didn’t think Ed would actually do it. And then his arms are wrapping around Ed’s neck and he’s licking Ed’s bottom lip, asking for entrance, and he gets it.

Ed moans into the kiss. And Oswald pulls away.

“We should take care of these bodies.” He whispers, his mind swirling but the logical part of him saying that they should clean this mess up, go home, continue this in the confines of their own house or talk about it.

Ed nods, his eyes looking far away.

He’s definitely going to have to have a serious talk with himself to figure out what he’s feeling.  

**Author's Note:**

> In true fashion of moi, this fic started out fine and then digressed into whatever this is.... <3


End file.
